McKinney joins women's soccer as assistant coach

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

McKinney joins SMU women's soccer as assistant coach

DALLAS (SMU) – SMU Women's Soccer announced the hiring of Assistant Coach Callie McKinney on Tuesday.

"We are excited to add Callie to our coaching staff", Head Coach Nicole Nelson said. "As we went through the process, it became evident that she was the perfect fit for this role. Given her playing experience in the ACC in combination with her coaching experience and commitment to developing players, we are confident she will add value immediately."

McKinney comes to the Hilltop after spending the 2024 season as the head coach of the women's soccer program at Bellarmine.

"I am thrilled and honored to join the SMU women's soccer program," McKinney said. "I believe SMU has an incredible opportunity to compete in the best women's collegiate soccer conference in the country. I am looking forward to helping the program grow and to empower the young women who come through the program."

In 2024, McKinney guided Bellarmine to its first ASUN Tournament berth in three years and pushed the Knights to the quarterfinals after a first-round PK shootout win over Austin Peay. BU set new Division I-era program records for total wins and ASUN victories while garnering its first-ever ASUN postseason superlative award and landing a program-record three All-ASUN accolades.

In total, McKinney spent five seasons at Bellarmine (2020-24). Before being promoted to head coach in March of 2024, she joined the women's soccer staff as a graduate assistant in the summer of 2020 and was promoted to full-time assistant coach prior to the fall 2021 season.

In the summer of 2023, McKinney was the head coach of the USL Racing Louisville W League team.

McKinney was a starting midfielder at the University of Louisville from 2016-19. She appeared in 72 games with 67 starts over her four-year tenure with the Cardinals. She was a two-time ACC Academic Honor Roll selection and helped UofL earn NCAA Tournament berths her final two years in the program, which included a 13-5-2 senior campaign in 2019 where she delivered the game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory over Clemson.

McKinney played in the summer of 2019 with the Nashville Rhythm and garnered Southeast All-Conference Team accolades from the Women's Premier Soccer League.

She holds several U.S. coaching licenses, including Grassroots 7v7, 9v9, 11v11 licenses and class D and C licenses.

A native of Franklin, Tennessee and an All-State performer at Franklin High School, McKinney earned a bachelor's degree in exercise science at Louisville and a master's degree in health science at Bellarmine.